Rail clip



Sept. 14, 1965 R. s. BAKER 3,206,123

RAIL CLIP Filed May l, 1962 INVENTOR United States Patent 3,206,123 RAILCLIP Robert S. Baker, Tampa, Fla., assignor to Julian L. Cone, Jr.,Charles W. Con, and Douglas P. Cone, all of Tampa, Fla. v V Y Filed May1, 1962, Ser. No. '191,490 2 Claims. (Cl. 23S-349) This inventionrelates to improved clips for fastening railroad rails to crossties, andparticularly to clips specially adapted to hold rails to concretecrossties.

It has been traditional practice to secure rails to wooden ties by meansof spikes'. With the advent of the concrete crosstie it became necessaryto provide other securing means. Bolts were tried, but these fastenedthe rails too rigidly to the ties. Some form of spring clips have beenproposed, but these either required the use of heavy rail anchor plates,or in some way did not adequately perform the task of holding the railsto the ties.

The general object of the present invention is to provide an improvedclip which will hold the rail to the tie with just the proper pressure,and completely eliminate the need for rail anchor plates.

A more specific object is the provision of such a clip which is fastenedto the tie intermediate its ends so that its bearing upon both the tieand rail is through spring pressure.

Another object is to provide a clip which will hold the rail againstlateral shifting.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a rail anchor clipwhich can be secured in place with but one bolt, but will be heldagainst turning movement relative to the rail.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the followingdescription of one practical embodiment thereof, When taken inconjunction with the drawings which accompany, and form part of, thisspecification.

In the drawings:

FIGURE l is a top plan view of a portion of a rail and its supportingtie, the rail being secured to the tie by means of anchor clipsembodying the principles of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a section taken on the line 2 2 of FIG- URE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the improved anchor clip.

In general, the invention contemplates the use of anchor clips forsecuring rails to concrete crossties, which clips are formed of springsteel shaped to have rocking bearing contact on both the tie and railange and be anchored intermediate the ends. Means are provided on theclips for abutment with the rail liange to yieldingly hold the railagainst lateral movement and prevent rotational movement of the clip.

Referring to the drawings in detail, there is shown a tie 1 upon which arail 2 is supported. The crosstie can be of conventional pre-stressedconcrete construction, but will be provided with a rail seat 3 adjacenteach end. Transversely extending grooves 4 will be formed at each end ofthe rail seat, and threaded sleeve anchors 5 are embedded in the tiehaving their tops opening into the rail seat adjacent the grooves 4. Therail is of usual form, having base anges 6, web 7 and head 8.

In the mounting illustrated, the rail seats upon a pad 9 ofpolyethylene, or similar plastic material. This will provide someresilience between the tie and rail to absorb shock.

Two clips are shown, a gage clip 10 on the gage, or inner, side of therail, and a field clip 11 on the ield,

ICC

or outer, s'ide of the rail. The two clips are identical except forlength. The gage clip is somewhat shorter than the field clip to providestiier connection on the inside to maintain the rail spacing or gage.Although the two clips have been given dilerent reference characters,-the similar parts of the two will be referred to by the same numerals.

The clip is formed from a piece of steel plate which is approximatelycruciform.- At the center, there is a bolt hole 12. The forward arm 13of the plate is reversely curved to provide a rail-bearing lip 14 havinga convex underside 15 for bearing contact with the rail flange. Theconvex curvature of the lip allows for rocking contact upon the railtiange as the clip is flexed. The rear arm 16 of the plate is rolleddownwardly to form an anchoring foot 17 to rest within the groove 4.Here again, the contacting surface of the clip is a convex one andflexing of the clip will cause rocking movement of the foot within itsseat. The two side arms are bent downwardly to provide spaced rail stops19. The forward edges 20 of the rail stops 19 are for actual engagementwith the rail, to position the rail and to hold it in position, as willbe described.

The central portion of the plate, that is the top area 18, may beprovided with stitfening ribs 21 to reinforce the plate in the directionof thrust. The ribs will extend lengthwise between the forward and reararms to strengthen the clip in the direction of lateral thrust of therail.

When a rail is to be laid, the crossties will be positioned, and railpads 9 placed on the rail seats. The rail is then put upon the tiesresting on the pads 9. The clips will next be placed in position withtheir curved feet 17 resting in the grooves 4 and their lips 14 bearingupon the tops of the rail flanges. Bolts 22 are inserted through theclip openings 12 and threaded into the anchor sleeves 5. The bolts willbe turned down sufficiently to bring the required pressure upon theclips to cause the desired spring pressure to be exerted upon the railiianges. It will be noted that the pad 9 is notched along its edges atthe bolt positions, to provide arcuate recesses 23 to surround the boltsand hold the pad against shifting on the rail seat of the tie.

When the clips are in position, the lips 14 and feet 17 are in tirmcontact with the rail flange and crosstie, respectively. Downwardpressure at the center of the clip imposed by the bolt will cause thelip and foot to roll, or rock, slightly on the rail iiange and in thegroove 4, but bearing contact is retained. The two convex surfaces willmaintain constant pressure bearing on the respective members. The sameis true if the rail moves vertically under load. Thus, the rail is heldby a constant, but yielding, bearing pressure.

When the clip is in place, the leading edges 20 of the downturned railstop will be in engagement with the side edges of the rail anges to holdthe rail against lateral shifting. Here, again, the holding pressure isa yielding one, for endwise pressure on the clip is opposed by the foot17 in the rail seat groove 4 in the tie. The clip is quite stiii` inopposition to lateral movement of the tic, however, so that but minutemovement may take place in this direction.

By providing the clip with two spaced rail stops, the clip isautomatically held in proper position at right angles to the rail. Thispermits the clip to be anchored by a single holt, yet be held againstrotation around the bolt.

While in the above one practical embodiment of the invention has beendisclosed, it will be understood that the details of construction shownare merely by way of illustration, and the invention may take otherforms Within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A clip for fastening a rail to a concrete crosstre having a rail seatthereon with arcuate recesses extending transversely of the crosstie atthe'edges of the rail seat comprising, a spring steel plate memberhaving a central generally at body portion, a rear arm projecting fromthe body portion and being curved downwardly and forwardly to provide aconvex foot to seat in one of the arcuate recesses at the edge of therail seat in the crosstie to anchor the clip against movementlongitudinally of the crosstie, a forward arm terminating in a bearinglip with a convex bearing surface for contact with a flange of a rail onthe rail seat, the body portion of the plate having a hole therein toreceive a bolt to exert pressure upon the body of the plate to hold theconvex foot seated in a recess in the crosstie and the bearing lip inContact with the rail ange to hold the rail upon the crosstie seat, andside arms projecting laterally from either side of the body of the plateand terminating in downward extensions,

each downward extension having a leading edge for con- 20 tact with therail flange side edge whereby side thrust of the rail toward the clipwill be transmitted from the side arms through the plate to the convexfoot seated in the recess in the crosstie rail `seat and the Vrail willbe References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,634,341 7/27Romne 104242 1,975,377 10/34 Sharp 238-338 2,218,156 10/40 Scholes23S-349 2,324,134 7/43 Chidester 23S-349 2,378,590 6/45 Snyder 23S-3492,486,388 8/49 Sonneville 23S-349 FOREIGN PATENTS 10/ 61 Great Britain12/ 32 Switzerland.

1. A CLIP FOR FASTENING A RAIL TO A CONCRETE CROSSTIE HAVING A RAIL SEAT THEREON WITH ARCUATE RECESSES EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY OF THE CROSSTIE AT THE EDGES OF THE RAIL SEAT COMPRISING, A SPRING STEEL PLATE MEMBER HAVING A CENTRAL GENERALLY FLAT BODY PORTION, A REAR ARM PROJECTING FROM THE BODY PORTION AND BEING CURVED DOWNWARDLY AND FORWAR<DLY TO PROVIDE A CONVEX FOOT TO SEAT IN ONE OF THE ARCUATE RECESSES AT THE EDGE OF THE RAIL SEAT IN THE CROSSTIE TO ANCHOR THE CLIP AGAINST MOVEMENT LONGITUDINALLY OF THE CROSSTIE, A FORWARD ARM TERMINATING IN A BEARING LIP WITH A CONVEX BEARING SURFACE FOR CONTACT WITH A FLANGE OF A RAIL ON THE RAIL SEAT, THE BODY PORTION OF THE PLATE HAVING A HOLE THEREIN TO RECEIVE A BOLT TO EXERT PRESSURE UPON THE BODY OF THE PLATE TO HOLD THE CONVEX FOOT SEATED IN A RECESS IN THE CROSSTIE AND THE BEARING LIP IN CONTACT WITH THE RAIL FLANGE TO HOLD THE RAIL UPON THE CROSSTIE SEAT, AND SIDE ARMS PROJECTING LATERALLY FROM EITHER SIDE OF THE BODY OF THE PLATE AND TERMINATING IN DOWNWARD EXTENSIONS, EACH DOWNWARD EXTENSION HAVING A LEADING EDGE FOR CONTACT WITH THE RAIL FLANGE SIDE EDGE WHEREBY SIDE THRUST OF THE RAIL TOWARD THE CLIP WILL BE TRANSMITTED FROM THE SIDE ARMS THROUGH THE PLATE TO THE CONVEX FOOT SEATED IN THE RECESS IN THE CROSSTIE RAIL SEAT AND THE RAIL WILL BE HELD AGAINST SIDEWISE MOVEMENT IN THE DIRECTION OF THE CLIP. 